new bose headset
 

who has the new bose A20 headset?

what do you think of it?

in comparison to the bose-x headset, would you say its worth the extra £200 quid?

Me.

Fantastic.

Yes (well, maybe). If you were always content spending the inflated price for the X, the extra cost is worth it.

There was a thread running here just a week or two ago about issues with the microphone of the new headset as well as a link to another site stating the same.

Using the search facility will do wonders to perhaps saving you some money

:ok:

The A20 is a lot better than the X for attenuation. You will think your engine has been replaced with a PT6 :)

The mike and speech clarity are about the same; in fact I would say the mike is slightly more position-critical than on the X. The mike itself appears identical.

The X is no longer made so there is no extra cost as such. The A20 sells for £995 in the USA, and some firms do a $400 trade-in, as I posted on the other thread.

I did not buy the bluetooth version because it is IMHO useless** in Europe, where most Tower/ATC numbers are top secret :) In the USA, you can use a phone to collect the departure clearance, etc.

** except if you have a bluetooth-equipped satellite phone. I ground tested the Lightspeed Zulu with a Thuraya SG2520 satphone and it did work, but the quality was truly crap (which I am sure was down to the phone).

The Lightspeed Zulu manual states that heavy Bluetooth usage can significantly reduce battery life. Have any tests been done to estimate that reduction, 30%?, 50%? as I'd like to leave the bluetooth on, certainly a good backup for radio failure as I keep some ATC numbers on my phone.

GSM is unlikely to work usefully for voice, unless you fly really low e.g. 1000ft or less.

If you want a radio backup, get a used Icom radio off Ebay, etc.

Or you could try the new Thuraya XT :) It should work, though I have not tested this model. You can then get weather, in fact anything on the internet, while in the air.

What benefits does the bluetooth headset give over the standard 1 though?

I would be using it for flying light aircraft and for work flying a turbo-prop. I use the sennheiser HMEC 250 headset at the moment, which I've had for 2 yrs now so may be time to upgrade.

With a bluetooth equipped headset you can link to your mobiles bluetooth for telephone calls or should you want it to steam music to the headset etc. ATC traffic obviously has priority so all other input levels are reduced during ATC comms use (Lightspeed Zulu). There's also a minijack socket alternative for music etc.

Mike

Worth checking exactly how well the ATC v. music override works.

I have a "music input" on my PS 7000 intercom, which works very well; it cuts the music immediately anybody (you or ATC) speaks, and then it gradually fades it back in.

It is quite cool to be cruising at FL180 over the Alps while listening to [insert your fav cool music :) ] but IMHO it is in practice of little use because the ATC activity makes the music impossible to listen to.

Of course if you fly truly non-radio (as opposed to flying with a listening watch) then it would work.

Vulcan607,

I really enjoy the A20 features. It is extremely quiet and the Bluetooth works great for cell use whether plugged into A/C inst. panel or not. A real benefit on a busy flightline O/S the cockpit.

You can listen to music from cell phone using a supplied 3mm cable. Both the cell audio(phone calls and music) mute upon receiving ATC xmission. You set the priority on the control module.

I made a 3G call from 3500ft today with no problem at all. Voice quality excellent on both ends.

I have used DCs and others for almost 30 years. The A20 is the best I've ever worn period! They are very comfortable and I actually have no soreness or pain as with others.

I think the flight data monitoring might flag up me making a call during the cruise whilst supposed to be flying pax around!

not really interested in the bluetooth function if am honest

Bose
 

However good the Bose might be it's ridiculously over priced. Nearly £4000 to equip an average four seat aircraft, for no, or only marginally better noise attenuation than the other very good headsets on the market. OK if you turn up at the airfield in your brand new Ferrari and jump into a new TB850, but for the rest of us? My advice is buy any of the reasonably priced sets and spend the change on flying.

I found a exact copy of the A20 in China. Its "Boss" not bose unfortunately. They have the boeing and airbus adapters which u can buy separately.It cost only USD60 with adapters after the conversion.

That's actually not the case. Go to a headset shop, set up a noise source, and try them all.

I did this in 2001. The Bose X beat the lot by a huge margin. All the non-ANR headsets were good for the dustbin after that test and only a masochist would buy one. The D-C 10-13X (IIRC) at £650 came close but with a much higher pressure on the head.

And most of the headset market has not changed since 2001.

The Lightspeed Zulu is close to the Bose X. Close enough to make it quite a subjective decision.

But the A20 beats the X by a big margin.

You are right about the cost; I manufacture in electronics and clearly Bose are absolutely minting it. But the thing which truly amazes me is why they have not had any competition for ~ 10 years. It can't be just patents. I think it is because in aviation nobody wants to bomb the market pricing. A Garmin 430 costs about £300 to make and put on the shelf in the factory. Go figure... as they say.

Tell you wot.... if you bought a TBM850 you would not be driving a Ferrari for very long afterwards (once the warranty runs out on the TBM) ;)

It is probably a very poor copy, at 60 bucks retail. Did you fly with it? FWIW, I have tried various Far Eastern ANR headsets (non-aviation) and all were crap.

But if selling in a market where there is no copyright/patent enforcement (ostensibly there is but in China you pay off people) you could sell an A20 for perhaps $200 retail. Interesting :ok:

Bose obviously catch out a lot of people who think that paying the most money will get the best product. For all the money they spend on advertising you would have thought they would promote the noise reduction rating that they are capable of. After all the competition don't seem to find it a problem to do so. If you are only planning to fly a cessna single or similar then my advice would be to stick with a peltor or similar.

And ruin your hearing in the process......

guys,

been looking online. Buying the A20 in the UK seems very expensive.

Has anyone ever bought from sportys and had them shipped in from the US before?

I'd like to get the A20, battery powered without bluetooth

Bose A20 Aviation Headset, no Bluetooth (battery powered, twin plugs) - Sporty's Pilot Shop

and at $995, it seems a bit of a saving.

But on the other hand, wondered if its a lot of hassle getting it from america???

I have just tried to buy 2 pairs only to be told that they are not available until March next year and that those already sold are being recalled to fix known issues.
Any know why etc.

An explanation?

What is going on? Why such a long back order for the A20? | Bose.eu - Bose® A20? Aviation Headset

Well at least they are behaving honourably - unlike some years ago when they made thousands of X headsets with dodgy mikes and washed their hands of them (in Europe, not in the USA) after the original warranty expired.